Wednesday, 8 October 2014

Hummus (Authentic Arabian recipe)

Hummus is a middle eastern classic recipe that can be used as a side dish, spread or a dipping. Hummus is super healthy due to its high protein content and utterly delicious. Its main ingredients are chickpeas (also known as garbanzo (spanish), bengal gram or kabuli chana (India), Hamaz (Arabic)) and tahini paste. You can find readymade tahini paste or you can make it at home with its simple recipe which I have included below. Hummus recipe can be modified according to tastes.

For Tahini paste: Dry roast sesame seeds in a wide open pan on a medium-low flame, stir it continuously to avoid burning, toast the sesame seeds until they is a slight change in color but not brown and there is a nutty fragrance. Then grind the toasted sesame seeds with olive oil into a smooth paste, you can also add some water to make the paste. The tahini paste should be thick and smooth in consistency, you can also add some more oil to reach the desired consistency. Tahini paste is ready, this will yield around 3/4 cup of tahini paste, which is required for this recipe, you can also make more of this and refrigerate in an airtight container and use it as a dipping.

You can either use canned chickpeas or raw chickpeas, for canned chickpeas, pour it in a strainer and drain all the water and if possible you can also remove skin from chickpeas.

If you are using raw chickpeas, then soak them in cold water for around 8 hours, then pressure cook them for 20 minutes or more until they are soft. Once done you can reserve some water in which it is cooked and drain any extra water.

While chickpeas are hot, pour them in a food processor and grind them until the chickpeas are mashed.

Then open the processor and add tahini paste, garlic cloves, salt and ground cumin and blend it well until it forms a smooth paste.

You can also add some water to obtain a smooth and thick consistency. Once the desired consistency is achieved, pour the mix in a bowl and drizzle it with olive oil.

Hummus is ready to serve, you can serve it as a side dish with pita bread or you can also use it as a dipping with your crackers or chips. You can refrigerate hummus in an air tight container and use it up to 7 days.

Note:

It is preferable if you are patient enough that you remove the skin of chickpeas while using canned chickpeas to obtain more smoother consistency. But when you are cooking chickpeas at home then you can blend it with their skin on, as when chickpeas are hot their skin is softer and can be blended more easily but make sure they are blended while they are hot.

Hope you like this recipe. Do post if you have tried any other variations in hummus recipe.